Technical Abstract:
Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process that leads to the onset of cardiovascular disease. The scavenger receptor-mediated uptake of oxLDL by macrophages leads to foam cell formation, which is an initial event in the formation of atherosclerotic fatty streak lesions. In this report, the mechanism contributing to the atheroprotective effects of blueberry supplemented diet was addressed in apoE -/- mice. ApoE knockout (ApoE-/-) mice fed AIN-93G diet (CD) formulated to contain 1% freeze-dried whole wild blueberries (CD1 percent BB) were found to have significantly less atherosclerotic lesions in aorta. Reduced mRNA expression of scavenger receptors (CD36, CD68 and SRA) were found in BB feeding aorta. These results were further verified by protein level, in heart tissue and in vitro study on macrophage. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the atheroprotective effect of the blueberries supplemented diet is mediated in part by inhibiting scavenger receptor expression that could result in reduced OXLDL endocytosis in an early event of atherogenesis.